It is hard to ignore the painful times the world is going through right now. Deadly conflicts continue to rage on in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, threatening global peace. The world’s financial system is being tested as interest rates continue to climb, inflation skyrockets and banks in the US collapse.
But at the same time, the World Health Organization has declared the end of COVID-19 as a global health crisis. International travel is back in full force, people are out and about and businesses are moving full steam ahead. The Islamic finance community — banks, service providers, issuers and lawyers — steadfastly supported global industry growth which stood at about 10% with their innovative product structuring and remarkable impactful initiatives as well as fortitude. We saw these in this year’s impressive pool of award contenders.
2022 was the year of ESG as financial institutions and capital seekers integrated social responsibility considerations into their operations and offerings as seen by submissions for the IFN Deals of the Year and IFN Law Awards. Banks and non-banking financial institutions revved up their product engineering engines and mobilized a slew of community-based initiatives; we expanded the IFN Best Banks Poll categories in 2022, dividing them into two wide umbrellas focusing on global standings and domestic rankings respectively. The IFN Service Providers Poll received a record number of votes while the IFN Non-Banking Financial Institutions Poll continued to grow in stature.
We are honored to have been able to celebrate the illustrious achievements of the industry both in Dubai and in Kuala Lumpur this year — congratulations again to all winners! We are excited to see what next year will bring!
Vineeta Tan Managing
Editor & Director
Islamic Finance news